wedding photography tips

do you want to become a weddings photographer? we will explain how

If you need to know few tips on how to become a wedding photographer , our website will provide you with all necessary knowledge and tools. Photographing a wedding is a challenge and it sounds easier that it really is, but it is not that hard either

In order to be able to capture a wedding day as a professional photographer you need to have several skills, not only about photography but also how to deal with people, take the pressure well and be able to communicate

Starting a wedding photography business is not taking pictures at one of your friend’s wedding and thinking that will make you a wedding photographer. I have heard that story few times and I was under the impression that this was it: once you do one wedding, everything falls into place after that.

Nothing could be further from the truth (at least for me). In order to get the second wedding it took me more than 12 months or marketing, advertising and promotion until I have secured a booking.

Usually expectations are high when people get married. They always expect the best pictures for their special wedding day. Fortunately, not all people understand the difference between good wedding photography and a bad one, they cannot tell a good photographer from a bad one. This fact has a lot of potential for starters as the requirements may not be that high and you can learn and get more wedding photography experience before charging serious money for taking pictures at people’s weddings

I would like to outline few things to think about:

necessary wedding photography equipment

In order to be a wedding photographer you need an appropriate quality level of equipment. You can start with one camera and one lens, but in order to get to the right level of professionalism, 2 cameras are better than one.

I can tell from my own experience that one camera is not enough. I use the Canon 5d Mark II and the overall general Canon 24-70 mm F2.8 lens for the most of the wedding photos. I did start with a telephoto Canon 70-300 mm in order to be able to shoot from a distance. Changing lenses during the wedding proved to be very difficult and I have lost many moments what I should have been clicking.

I have purchased the second camera body and everything became easier in covering all the angles, having every shot

On top of that, you need at least one flash gun, batteries, and memory cards to keep you going for a long time

General experience as a photographer

As a professional wedding photographer you need be able to adapt fast to new conditions. There is no time for second chances when you are running around after the bride and groom. It is a constant effort to catch them in the right position with the right camera settings to capture the best wedding poses and ideas. Experience comes with practice and photographing as many weddings as a second shooter or assistant will help you gain the confidence to be able to take the responsibility on your own.

 I would recommend starting few weddings for free, for people who do not wish to employ a professional wedding photographer anyway – and there are plenty of them fortunately in this case. This way there won’t be any pressure for you to deliver and it is a win-win situation. The couple received free wedding photos and you get to build up your wedding photography portfolio.

The right attitude 

If you want to become a wedding photographer you need to right attitude : be friendly and communicative, to engage with the guests. This is one of the most important aspects to become a good wedding photographer. If you do not get involved, you will not get the best wedding shots you would want. People do not pose in front of your camera by themselves and you need to take action.

Computer skills – post editing wedding photography images

I have been proven that the vast majority of people prefer a little bit of editing for their wedding pictures. I always provide a good mixture of natural photos, black and white photographs and various colour effects. That seems to be the norm, but there are occasional wedding clients that want everything in colour, black and white, or both. However this is rather the exception than the rule.

This skill is very easy to master in your process of becoming a wedding photographer. My recommendation is to use Adobe Light room for all your needs and that would be more than enough.

I will be covering specific topics in further articles on how to become a photographer website.

Please remember that wedding photography is a business where there is commitment. You need to treat it as like any other businesses. You may need a process and a workflow which can be improved in time when your experience is growing as a professional wedding photographer.

Assuming that you know how to take pictures and you are ready for this challenge, let’s look at the logical steps in becoming a professional wedding photographer

Step 1 – Your first wedding as a photographer.

You can start asking your friends and family if they know someone getting married. I am sure it won’t be long until you find this out and try to contact them offering your free services. Otherwise you can search for another photographer who is doing already weddings, and ask them if they need an assistant. It won’t be long until you find one happy for you to help them.

Make sure you clarify your intention to use the photos you are going to take for your own portfolio. It is important to touch this subject as there are copyright issues (to be discussed in a different article).

You can repeat this experience several times until you have enough photos for a portfolio

Step 2 – Promote your wedding photography business

Find the best ways to promote you as a professional photographer. It does take a significant time and money to start a campaign, but you need to be ready for this as nothing comes overnight. Be patient and consistent and clients will appear.

You can consider the following marketing strategies:

Step 3     –   Wedding photography website - see an example here

You need to build yourself a website. These days the vast majority if people are looking for a wedding photographer online. After your website is up and running, you can promote it through as many channels as possible, Facebook, and twitter, Web directories submissions, forums. Be aware of the paying wedding and bridal directories. As there are many of them, being in all of them prsooves to be expensive. As a progessional wdding photographer , you will nee to be registered in the most popular ones

Your photography business presence published in bridal magazines.

This an expensive approach, but necessary. It is not measurable as you will never be able to knoww how many copies have been sold. Ther number of enquiries is reduced. Having an add in a magazine will give you weight in your business and t comes also with inclusions in their wedding photography directories

- publish an add in the local paper. If not to expensive it can help your business to grow locally

- direct marketing, mailing lists, brochures distribution. If not done correctly you can waste a lot of time and money targeting the wrog market for a wedding photographer

- participate in bridal shows and bridal fairs. It takes some time to be accepted and it requires also a certain level of investment. This is a good aproach in building your wedding photgraphy business as you will be able to distribute your marketing material only to pre-qualified potential customers.

- newsletter - a powerfull marketing tool as a professional photographer. Sending an email to a large client list once in a while will make them remember you exist and oportunities will come form unexpected places. A photography newsletter is a must for any business these days

- lead generation websites - where you can subscribe and pay for the quotes for people looking for a weddin gphotographer. One of the best marketing tools as you will alwsy speak with the pre-qualified potential customers. These are the best cahnces to close business and make a booking. The downside of this is a highly competitive market where you are fighting against other 20 wedding photographers. It is a challenge hwowver with the right approach and marketing skills you can be among the top performers.

- direct word of mouth - best marketing ever, howvere you do not have control over it as other people are recommending you to their friends, assuming they are happy with your services

Step 3 – Wedding photography delivery and close business – which is the easiest after all.

All subjects above will have separate articles where we are going to get in greater details

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